160 people missing after Tsunami
As feared from the very beginning by Earthquake-Report.com the earthquake ravage would be far greater than initially expected. For many hours their was no news of the villages of the Pagai Islands, but as daylight began reports were coming out of damaga and casulaties.
Reuters just revealed that at least 160 people, mainly woman and children, were missing on one of the islands.
Excerpt of a just published Jakarta Globe article
A major 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of Indonesia on Monday, seismologists said, causing localized waves in the remote area.
A tsunami warning was issued, and while it was later withdrawn and no casualties were confirmed, a group of Australian visitors reported that their boat was destroyed by a œwall of white water crashing into a bay.
The undersea quake hit Indonesia™s Kepulauan Mentawai region at 9:42 pm at a shallow depth of 20.6 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.
Mudjiharto, the head of Health Ministry™s Crisis Center, told the Jakarta Globe that two locals from Sipora Island had been confirmed dead on Tuesday.
There were also reports that 80 percent of the homes in two villages had been flattened.
œThere are many fatalities and missing people, but we are still counting.